Bruce Springsteen on Broadway: A magical run comes to a close

It was Bruce Springsteen on Broadway, but it wasn’t a Broadway show one might expect.

There were no chorus lines, no special effects, no big dance numbers and no E Street Band at the Walter Kerr Theatre, but it was a sensation nevertheless. Presidents, celebrities, Broadway denizens and Springsteen fans filled the 960 capacity Kerr night after night, and it wasn’t cheap.

Bruce Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa exit the stage door of the Walter Kerr Theater in New York ...more

Bruce Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa exit the stage door of the Walter Kerr Theater in New York City after performing a private show of Bruce Springsteen on Broadway. Thursday, October 12, 2017.

John Meore/The Journal News

It was Springsteen in a T-shirt and jeans and wife Patti Scialfa delivering songs and stories for more than two hours. “Springsteen on Broadway,” his "magic trick," will end its run on Saturday, Dec. 15 after 236 performances.

The Springsteen and Broadway universes have been altered.

“It starts with a thought and then action follows,” said former Springsteen manager Mike Appel. “He reaches deep within himself, pulls those things up to the surface, everybody gets a chance to look it at and say what’s this all about – that provokes change and hopefully the change will be for the better.”

“Springsteen on Broadway” delivered, in story and song, the Boss’ tale of a kid from a working class family in Freehold who finds his voice in rock ‘n’ roll music and becomes a superstar around the world. Still, amid the bright lights and acclaim, the tug of hearts from home, specifically his dad’s, forever resound. It’s a multi-layered tale of self-discovery, ambition and faith.

“It’s that honest quality you get from Bruce Springsteen, he’s able to be self-effacing, self-deprecating, to laugh at his past, to laugh at what he considered to be silly things he has done, extremes that he goes through,” said Appel, who's working in his own musical, "Stage Door Johnny." Click on the link here for more info. “You’re being entertained and he’s not just a singer. He’s what I call a cattle prod for humanity – moving the herd along to better pasture. That’s Bruce. He does it through his lyrics and music.”

Bruce Springsteen performs in "Springsteen on Broadway" at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Bruce Springsteen performs in "Springsteen on Broadway" at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Rob DeMartin

Springsteen has historically interspersed his stories into his rock ’n’ roll shows throughout his career. In recent years, the stories gained more of a set form. He told his own story, in print, in 2016’s “Born to Run.” It was a best seller and a critical hit. Promotional meet-and-greets with fans brought him up close to the faithful, perhaps suggesting the need for a more intimate show setting.

Such as one that could be found on Broadway.

On “The River 2016 Tour,” the Boss recited spoken interludes throughout the concerts' performance of the 1980 album “The River.” He also spoke of growing up in Freehold, and interactions with his father during marathon late summer shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford in 2016.

The "Springsteen on Broadway" marquee at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

The "Springsteen on Broadway" marquee at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Ilana Keller/Staff photo

A private performance at the White House for the exiting Obama administration in January of 2017 seemingly formed the outline of “Springsteen on Broadway.” Springsteen performed two rehearsal shows in September of 2017 at the Pollak Theatre on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch for friends and insiders.

The show debuted on Broadway on Oct. 3, 2017 and the premiere was Oct. 12.

“It was three months that they were supposed to be on Broadway, and then they extended it,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League. “I think he was having more fun than he realized he would have. He really had a good time, it was so obvious he loved it. It was a small audience, he got to tell his story then he got to go home as night and go to bed instead of getting on a bus and go to another town.”

It was a hit. The rave reviews included the Asbury Park Press’, which wrote that it was a “masterstroke by an evolving artist.”

Celebs and VIPs made a steady beeline to the Kerr to see the show, starting with the Oct 12 premiere; Steven Spielberg and wife Kate Capshaw, Tom Hanks, Edward Norton, Jon Stewart and wife Tracey, Ralph Lauren, Andrew Lloyd Webber and more were there that night. Barack and Michelle Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton also made the run and it seemed there were more celebs there nightly.

Oprah Winfrey raved about “Springsteen on Broadway” on “CBS This Morning” in October of 2017. “Walk the Line” actress Reese Witherspoon saw the show, then she told of her experience on the March 7 episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Her description captured what many fans were experiencing.

“Literally within 15 minutes, I was a sobbing puddle of human tears on the ground,” Witherspoon said. “He talks about his dad, his mom. He talked about his mom and he talked about how tenderly his grandmother had cared for him and I just lost it. It was a lot, you guys.”

The work, a personal reckoning, tapped into an area of Springsteen’s art that was unexplored in this format.

“You get people away from their crutches and they’re listening to truth and it’s resonating with their inner resonators, that’s when all of a sudden the tears start to form in their eye they realize that what he’s singing about,” Appel said. “He shows how things should be but this is how things are, and that’s what brings the tears.”

“Springsteen on Broadway” changed over the months. Seemingly in an effort to lighten the overall effect, one or two jokes were added, and the humorous bits were given an extra beat or two to marinate. The 69-year old stopped, mid-song, “Dancing in the Dark” at the line “You sit around getting older, there’s a joke here somewhere and it’s on me,” to coax a laugh at his expense later in the run.

“His performance is a lot looser and he’s really sharpened his comedic skills,” said Caroline Madden, 26 of Toms River, who’s set to release a book on Springsteen’s music in films and TV called, “Bruce Springsteen as Soundtrack: Film, Television and the Music of the Boss” in 2018 from McFarland & Co. “He was hitting the punch lines and adding more jokes. He also added more details about his mother’s Alzheimer’s.”

Bruce Springsteen performs in 'Springsteen on Broadway' at the Water Kerr Theatre. Rob DeMartin

Bruce Springsteen performs in 'Springsteen on Broadway' at the Water Kerr Theatre. Rob DeMartin

Rob DeMartin

On nights when Scialfa could not perform, “Long Time Comin’" and “The Ghost of Tom Joad” were played instead of “Tougher Than the Rest” and “Brilliant Disguise.” On June 19, 2018, “The Ghost of Tom Joad” was performed instead of “Long Walk Home.” The portion of the show had previously deviated from the book to address current events, referring to “young men in torch-lit parades calling upon the most divisive and the ugliest ghosts of our past.”

On the 19th, Springsteen spoke at length to condemn the “disgracefully inhumane and un-American” treatment of the thousands of children who have been separated from their parents as part of Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents who were detained for illegal immigration.

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The play was pricey, to say the least. Face value ticket prices topped at $850 and double that and more on secondary markets.

High, even by Broadway standards.

“Nobody gets the ticket prices Springsteen has gotten, and the most interesting thing I would say about that is I have not heard anybody complain,” St. Martin said. “The say, 'My god, they’re expensive, but it was worth every penny.'”

Yet, the Boss had historically kept his concert prices a notch or two lower than others in the concert industry.

“It’s something that’s very divisive,” Madden said. “There were a lot of people upset and did think it was very expensive. It was pretty much one of the most expensive shows on Broadway and some people thought it went against, maybe, his ideals. But then you also had people defending it. Obviously he’s Bruce Springsteen and it’s limited seating and it’s such a special event.”

The last performance is Saturday, Dec. 15. Long-time Springsteen collaborator Thom Zimny filmed the play over two performances in July and it’s will be available for streaming on Netflix starting at 3:01 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 16. A soundtrack will be available from Columbia Records on Friday, Dec. 14.

In 2019, Springsteen will be working on “various recording projects” but there will not be a tour with the E Street Band in the new year, according to a statement he released on Dec. 4.

“What he’s doing on Broadway is so understated,” Appel said. “Broadway is a place of showtime, raise the curtains, there’s no business like show business! And there he is -- the stone in the stream, nothing like anything else is there and he gets their attention, because he is the one different thing on Broadway.